February, 2020

• 12 February

  Facebook, Twitter face threat of fines in UK internet crackdown

  

  Bloomberg The UK is planning to crack down on damaging Internet content on social media platforms, which could face fines for failing to prevent activities such as child exploitation and incitement to violence. The government is “minded” to give broadcast regulator Ofcom a role as internet watchdog, Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan and Home Secretary Priti Patel said in a statement ...

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• 12 February

  Euro-area industrial output at 4-year low

  

  Bloomberg A deep slump in euro-area industrial output at the end of last year highlights the scale of the challenge the sector will face in 2020. The 2.1% drop — the steepest in almost four years — will raise doubts about a meaningful rebound in momentum. The economy barely expanded in the fourth quarter and the outlook at the start ...

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• 12 February

  Lyft forecasts disappoint investors seeking faster profit

  

  Bloomberg Lyft Inc quarterly results and guidance for 2020 disappointed investors who punished the ride-hailing company for not promising profits sooner. The shares dropped more than 5% in extended trading. Lyft’s results came a few days after larger rival Uber Technologies Inc reported quarterly numbers that blew past analysts’ expectations and announced that it was moving up its target for ...

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• 12 February

  ‘Air pollution costs world $8 billion a day’

  

  Bloomberg Air pollution from burning fossil fuels is generating economic losses of $8 billion a day, according to a Greenpeace report. That’s about 3.3% of global gross domestic product, or $2.9 trillion per year, according to a report from Greenpeace Southeast Asia and Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. China, the US and India bear the highest economic ...

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• 12 February

  Twitter expands efforts to combat misinformation

  Bloomberg Twitter Inc expanded efforts to protect the US census, saying it will tweak search results for census-related terms to prompt users to visit the US Census Bureau website. The social-media company also said it will continue to prohibit posts containing false or misleading information about how to participate in the national survey — a policy that also applies to ...

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• 12 February

  EU crackdown threat to innovation: Google

  

  Bloomberg Google claimed the European Commission’s tough antitrust enforcement is a threat to internet innovation on day one of its courtroom fight against a 2.4 billion-euro ($2.6 billion) fine for allegedly thwarting smaller shopping-search rivals. “If Google would have faced the commission’s decision in 2008, Google would have had no other option but to abandon its innovative technologies and its ...

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• 12 February

  Putin squeezes Lukashenko in drive to skirt term limits

  

  Bloomberg Vladimir Putin’s surprise firing of Russia’s government and unveiling of constitutional changes that would weaken the presidency may only be Plan B for retaining power after his final term ends in 2024. In the month before Putin’s January 15 announcement, he’d pushed hard to convince his longer-serving counterpart in Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, to revive a moribund agreement to create ...

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• 12 February

  Bernie Sanders tightens his grip on US presidential race

  

  Bloomberg Bernie Sanders’s narrow win in New Hampshire makes him the undisputed leader of the Democratic Party’s left flank, with a second powerful showing that puts him in position to stake a claim to the Democratic presidential nomination as the race turns west and south. A surprisingly strong third-place showing from Amy Klobuchar in New Hampshire further scrambles the race ...

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• 12 February

  Virus shuts N Korea’s best route around Trump sanctions

  

  Bloomberg North Korea’s decision to shut the border with China to avoid the coronavirus will set back its nascent economic recovery, renewing pressure on Kim Jong-un to return to nuclear negotiations with Donald Trump. A jump in fuel prices, a dip in port activity and the suspension of train and air links show the early impact as reports emerge of ...

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• 12 February

  Guaido returns to clashes after global tour

  

  Bloomberg Opposition leader Juan Guaido returned to Venezuela to a chaotic scene at Caracas’s international airport, as President Nicolas Maduro’s loyalists clashed with opposition lawmakers there to greet him. After passing through customs and immigration, Guaido was swarmed by the clashing lawmakers and Maduro backers. He and his travelling entourage were able to leave the airport without being arrested for ...

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